Love Potion
by EvieB
Summary: Sara helps Grissom make a love potion (GS)
1. Default Chapter

Author's Note:  I based this _very_ loosely on a challenge I read somewhere, calling for Grissom to give Sara a love potion.  I meant to work that into this story, but it got a bit away from me.  This is pretty much AU & probably OOC.  Thank you to Geek for telling me it was worth continuing.  Any errors are mine, since this wasn't betaed.  And of course, I don't own CSI, the characters, or anything else…

~~~~~

Grissom looked down at the letter in his hand and tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach.  'I can't believe that I am going to do this,' he thought to himself.  Looking at the clock, he tucked the letter into his briefcase and went off to look for Sara.

He found her ten minutes later in the fingerprint lab.  She was waiting for the results of a comparison she had brought in at the beginning of shift.  The new tech who was working on the case was having a difficult time making a match with Sara pacing right behind him.  As the door opened, the tech looked up and saw Grissom, his anxiety visually doubled.

"Is there anything I can help you with, Sir?" the tech asked as he jumped to his feet, nearly knocking over a jar of fingerprint powder.

Gulping as he glanced over at Sara, Grissom had to remind himself to answer the tech's question.

"No, I was actually just looking for Sara.  Why don't you keep working on that print; Sara, could you come with me for a moment?"

Sara nodded and followed Grissom out of the lab.  As they left, she looked back at the tech and reminded him that she would be back shortly, and wanted the comparison to be completed.

Grissom led her to his office and opened the door for her.  He surprised her by sitting down on the sofa rather than behind his desk.  She pulled a chair up and sat in front of him, waiting.

He looked at her and smiled weekly as he remembered the conversation he had with his mother the night before on the TTY.  There was no way he could get out of this, and no way to enlist Sara's help without telling her what they were doing.

Sara could tell that he was uncomfortable and wondered what was going on.  Searching her memory, she tried to think of anything that she had done in the last few hours that could have brought this on.  Finally, he began to speak.

"You probably wonder what I want, don't you?"  Sara nodded, and he continued.  "I need to ask you a favor.  I need your help with, well, with an experiment."  Grissom looked at her anxiously.

"An experiment?  Why didn't you just ask me in the lab?  Which case is it for?"

"This is where it gets embarrassing," Grissom said shaking his head and blushing slightly.  "It's not for a case.  I need to um, make something, and I need your help to do it.  I realize that it would have to be off-the-clock, but I thought I could maybe make you breakfast or something to make it up to you."

By now Sara was totally confused, but intrigued.  "Embarrassing?" she asked with a smirk.  "What exactly are we going to be making?"

Grissom's blush intensified.  "I got a letter from my mother yesterday.  She's always wanted grandchildren," Grissom paused when Sara blanched.  "No!  Not from me!  Well, from me too, but that's not what I meant."  Laughing now, he smiled and gave Sara a smirk, "Don't worry, that's not the favor I need."

Gasping for air, Sara sputtered, "Well, I hope not!"

Grissom continued, "My Aunt Karen died when I was in grad school.  She and Mom were close, and Mom became a sort of surrogate mother to Karen's daughter Angie.  Mom figures that Angie is her best hope for grandkids."  Grissom looked away and said quietly, "I think she's given up on getting any from me."

Sara didn't know how to respond and simply placed a comforting hand on Grissom's.  "I'm sure she hasn't."  When he finally looked up, she smiled, "So how am I supposed to help you help your mom get grandchildren from Angie?"

"This is the weird part.  My mother is a somewhat superstitious woman.  She's worried that Angie is going to give up on love, as she puts it.  Angie is getting married next month.  Her fiancé just announced wants them to start trying have a baby right away, and Angie's freaking out.  So Mom wants to give Angie a love potion."

Grissom's blush reddened as he continued, he was feeling more and more ridiculous as he went on.  Taking a deep breath, he looked Sara in the eye a finished quickly, "And you are involved because according to the recipe that she sent me, certain parts of the preparation have to be performed by a woman."

"A love potion?  You cannot be serious!  Ok, I'll bite, why can't your mother make this mysterious potion?"

"I know what you're thinking.  I had this whole argument with my mother last night on the phone.  According to her, there are certain personality characteristics that are required to prepare the formula."  At Sara's incredulous glance, he thought he might have to resort to begging, "I may have mentioned you to her once or twice.  When she described the person she needed to make it, she mentioned you specifically.  Come on Sara.  Think of it as the ultimate experiment.  We can observe the whole thing, and maybe I'll become an uncle in the process."  Smiling, he added, "If she has a girl, I'll suggest to Angie that she name the baby after you."

Sara looked away for a moment, thinking the whole thing over.  She had pretty much decided to help at this point, but figured Grissom could sweat it for a moment.  She flashed her "Grissom smile" and stood saying, "Well, you know I never can resist an experiment."

~~~~~

For the fifth time in twenty minutes, Grissom silently wished that he had a larger kitchen.  It was suitable enough for one person, but the two of them were bumping into each other every time they tried to move.

Sara was stirring the mixture on the stove, while Grissom used a mortar and pestle to reduce some leaves into powder.  Glancing over at him, Sara smiled to herself thinking that Grissom looked right at home working in the kitchen.

"So how exactly does your mother plan to deliver this potion?"

Grissom shook his head.  "Apparently Angie is supposed to ingest at least half a cup of the final product.  I still don't know how she plans to manage that one."

"We're sure that this won't make Angie sick aren't we?"  Sara shuddered, adding, "I _really_ don't want to have to explain this to anyone."

Grissom chuckled as he added the leaf powder to the mixture Sara was stirring, "I already asked Mom about that.  And don't worry, I've looked over the rest of the ingredients, it looks pretty harmless.  Angie's probably had more dangerous stuff at a bar."

Grissom reached over and turned the heat down to low.  Putting the lid on the pot and the spoon in the sink, he turned to Sara and smiled.  "Well, we have an hour to kill.  What do you want to do?"

~~~~~

Sara relaxed on the sofa and tried to find something to watch on television.  Grissom was in the kitchen, making pancakes.  Her task, finding entertainment, seemed simple, but was becoming more difficult as she looked at the lineup of day-time talk shows and soap operas that were playing at 11:30 in the morning.  Finally finding the Discovery Science Channel, Sara settled in to watch a program on the physical properties of light -- nothing she didn't already know, but it made for decent background noise.

Grissom entered the living room and placed two heaping plates of pancakes on the large coffee table in front of Sara.  She looked up at him with wide eyes, "Where did you learn to cook?  I have an excuse for not being able to cook for less than ten people - I grew up in a B&B.  What's your excuse?"

Smiling, Grissom looked distant for a moment as he reminisced.  Turning back to her, he replied, "Even though it was just me and my mom most of the time, mom wanted a big family.  She always cooked for a crowd and I never learned how to reduce the recipes.  The result is that my refrigerator is always filled with leftovers."

The two scientists ate their breakfasts in companionable silence while they watched the program on television.  "What did you just say," Grissom asked, turning to Sara, who had stopped eating, and was muttering under her breath.

"It's just that they're making the whole thing way too complicated.  The average person would be able to understand that light has the properties of both waves and particles if they would just explain it simply.  It really doesn't require all of these crazy cartoon explanations.  I could explain it much better than this guy," Sara added, pointing to the purple cartoon character on the screen.

"Not that I'm suggesting a career change, but have you ever considered teaching, or making educational documentaries?"

Sara was silent for a moment.  "No not really.  I mean, I've been dragged along to help out with some entomology seminars," she said giving Grissom a half-hearted glare, "but I've never thought seriously about doing it myself."

Grissom heard the timer ding in the kitchen.  Standing up, he leaned over and placed his hand on Sara's.  "Just keep it in the back of your mind.  I think you'd be great at it; you really are a natural teacher."

Sara just sat there for a minute, watching as Grissom took their plates into the kitchen and took the lid off of their potion.

~~~~~

An hour later, they were done.  Grissom placed the glass jar in the refrigerator, while Sara wiped down the counters.

"So is your mother going to put a spell on that or something?  Because I don't think there is anything too special about it right now.  I can't imagine that it's supposed to make someone fall in love."

Grissom leaned back against the counter, looking at Sara.  "It doesn't make anyone fall in love.  According to mom, nothing can do that.  All the potion can do is strengthen the love that is already present.  And in reinforcing the bond, the potion will also relieve the stress and fear that can come with a new romance."

"New?  I thought that Angie and her fiancé had been together for a while?"

"They have.  I don't know why mom said a new romance.  Maybe she misspoke."

Sara and Grissom were both silent for a moment.  They thought about their morning together and how comfortable they were feeling around each other.  Grissom thought about how good it felt having Sara in his home, and Sara thought about how good it felt to see this relaxed, personal side of Grissom.

Yawning, Sara stepped forward.  "I should probably be heading home.  Thank you for breakfast.  I had a good time."

"I did too.  Are you sure you're alright to drive home?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

As they walked to the door, Grissom argued with himself.  As she put on her shoes, Grissom thought about how much she meant to him.  As she stood and turned the doorknob, Grissom reached out to stop her hand.

Surprised, Sara turned to Grissom.  The emotion playing across his face surprised her.

"I really did enjoy having you over this morning," he said, not letting go of her hand.  Taking a deep breath, he raised his other hand and cradled hers in both of his.  "Would you like to come back this evening, for dinner?"

Sara smiled at him.  This man never stops amazing me, she thought.  "I would love to," she said softly, before leaning in to lightly kiss Grissom's cheek.  Grissom surprised her again by quickly brushing his lips across hers before releasing her.

"I'll see you tonight.  Come by around seven?"

Looking into his eyes, Sara nodded.  She squeezed his hands and slipped out the door.  Grissom stood at the door watching her progress as she walked to her car.  When she raised her hand and waved before driving away, Grissom thought to himself, maybe mom was right after all.  Maybe the potion really is to strengthen the bond of a new romance.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: A big thank you to everyone who reviewed, you all really made my week with your kind words.  Again, this is un-betaed, so any errors belong to me, although nothing else does.

**Chapter Two**

Grissom unlocked and opened the front door quietly.  It was almost noon, and Sara was probably sleeping.  He'd had to stay late at work for a supervisor's meeting, so he hadn't been able to drive her to her doctor's appointment; instead, Nick had driven her.  Grissom had worried that Sara would be upset with him for missing the appointment, so he called and made a reservation for dinner at her favorite restaurant.  Hopefully, they would have good news to celebrate.

As he made his way into the house, he heard Sara's distinctive laughter.  "Sara," he called out, "honey, where are you?"

"I'm on the phone in the office," Sara hollered between giggles.  "Come on in and bring more coffee!"

Grissom grabbed the coffee pot from the kitchen, as well as a bottle of water.  He had been concerned for the last few weeks that Sara had been drinking too much coffee, she was sleeping more than usual, and requiring more and more caffeine to get going once she did get out of bed.

Walking toward the office, Grissom called out to Sara again, "Honey, who are you talking to - all I hear is laughter?"  When he entered the office, Grissom stopped dead in his tracks.  Sara was sitting at the desk they shared, with her feet up on an ottoman she had pulled over.  But what shocked him was that the source of her amusement was the person she was speaking to, not on the phone, but on the TTY.

He placed the coffee and the water next to her and kissed her cheek as he leaned over, placing his head on her shoulder.  "Honey," he asked, suspicious that he already knew the answer to the question he was preparing to ask.  "Who are you talking to?"

Sara leaned her cheek against his as turned the TTY so he couldn't quite see the screen.  She typed a quick question into the TTY and smiled.  "Just a friend, how was your meeting?"

Grissom pulled the TTY back to where he could see it.  "I distinctly saw the words 'naked baby Gil' and 'photos' on that screen," he said, "you've got my mother on there, haven't you?"

Sara just kissed him again and laughed even harder as she pushed Grissom's hands away from the keypad and typed another message.  Moments later the conversation was over and both parties hung up, but only after promising to finish the discussion at another time.

Grissom helped Sara up from her chair and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.  He kissed her neck, and whispered in her ear, "anything you want to tell me?"

Sara pretended to think about his question for a moment, "Not really.  Oh!  Your mom called," she added, barely able to contain her giggles once again.

"So I noticed," Grissom grumbled as he scooped Sara up and into his arms.  He carried her into their room and set her down on the bed they had been sharing for several months.  Grissom propped up the pillows as Sara leaned back and settled in next to her, holding her hand in his.

"I'll find out what's so funny later, but why did she call?  She's not one to call long distance just to chat."

"She wanted to talk to you, but since you weren't here, she and I just had a little 'girl talk,'" Sara answered evasively.

"I do have exciting news, though," Sara in the sing-song voice of a child who knows a secret.  "Guess who just found out she's pregnant?"

Grissom pulled back slightly to look into Sara's eyes, "Are you serious?  Is the doctor sure?"

"Yep, blood work just got back."  Sara tugged on Grissom's arm, pulling him closer to her again, "The newest member of the Grissom clan should be here on or about July tenth."

Smiling, Grissom stared off into space for a moment.  "It's just amazing, I can't believe it.  _Little Angie _is really having a baby."  Suddenly, a thought came to him, "I'm going to be an uncle!"

Sara smiled as she watched Grissom's expression.  She couldn't believe how surprised he was about Angie's pregnancy.  They had both known that Angie and her husband had been trying to get pregnant, but for some reason, none of it had been real to Grissom until just now.  Grissom was suddenly startled out of his reverie by Sara's impatient fingers squeezing his hand.  "Enough baby talk, wasn't there something you were going to ask me?"

Grissom shook his head and looked back at Sara.  "I meant to ask you before.  How was your appointment?  I'm still sorry that I couldn't drive you."

"Don't worry about it.  Doc cleared me for driving _and_ active duty, so you're not stuck driving me around and I'm not stuck in the lab anymore, thank goodness.  I still haven't figured out how to get back at Nick for tripping me." Sara said with a smile, although she wasn't entirely sure she was joking.

Grissom pulled her body even closer to his own and ran one hand down to her butt.  "I'm glad you're back, honey.  Although I have to admit that I really liked having you around the lab the last few weeks," he added suggestively, kissing and nuzzling her neck.

"You just liked having me stuck in the lab because I cleaned your office!  Do you know how old some of the stuff in there was?  I found a jar of tarantula food in there that expired five years ago!"

Grissom tucked a lock of hair behind Sara's ear, "Seriously, Sara; are you sure you're ready to go out into the field again?  You _did_ break your foot."

"Gil, it was a hairline fracture, and the doctor said it looks great."  She pulled his head toward her own and kissed his lips slightly.  When he deepened the kiss and moaned into his mouth, Sara pulled him on top of her, "Come here, let me show how much better I'm feeling."


End file.
